Brunei

After KL we flew to Kota Kinabalu (KK). We spent a couple days there and then made a quick trip to Brunei. It was only 4 hrs away by boat, and we were both really intrigued by this oil rich country, so we made the journey. There are a lot of interesting facts about this place that took us by surprise and most of them involving the governing royal family ~ more specifically the Sultan and his family.

Unfortunately you can't get near the palace except certain times of the year that didn't coincide with our visit, so this is the best we could do. It doesn't give it any justice as all, cause trust us this place is huge! Now for a few facts regardin the Sultan: Worth noting is the palace houses his 3000 cars below the living quarters! Also in his possession are 2 black hawk helicopters, a personal 747, and a number of other toys I am sure. If you're familiar with the 6 star Hotel in Dubai (which I can't remember the name ~ but is the tower built on a man made island), apparently the Sultan owns one of the floors reserved just for himself. Apparently though he is allowed to spend this money, but he draws a line when it comes to his family. He has a brother whom he has now had a falling out with because of his lavish spending habits including 50m yahts, owning 2000 cars, and building a hotel for a mere 1.1 billion dollars... pocket change apparently. Despite all this, many people in the country live with substantially smaller incomes as you can guess from a couple of the pictures below. Yet he manages to be held in very high regard with the people, and they consider him their 'hero'. This is something we couldn't really wrap our heads around, but he must be doing something right I suppose...
This is a village on the water front in BSB. There are a number of these homes/buildings and they are all built on stilts. Most of them are above water all the time, but this is a section at low tide. There are 30,000 people living in this village, there are also businesses (restaurants/stores), schools, and even a mosque. There is a maze of boardwalks connecting each building which allow you to get around. There is also and abundant supply of water taxis to help you get around.

This pic below was a bit disturbing, but this was taken at low tide and you can see the garbage that is left behind on the soggy ground...

Water taxi anyone...?
The mosques in Brunei are amazing. A gift to the people from the Sultan. This is a small one in BSB which houses 3000 people.
This is the big mosque, and it is a beauty. It will house 5000 people for any call to prayer, and trust us no expense is/was spared to build and maintain.

A night picture that we're fairly proud of.